Not an issue of using more of the brain in court, it is an issue of flexible time. Court schedules are dictated without much flexibility. And I know some lawyers charge by the job, not by the hour. Dean If my lawyer told me he charges for driving down town, parking,and waiting time,i could understand that. But he just said he charges more to be in court. But then maybe he did that to pay for the driving time, parking, etc. Yes, there are some lawyers that charge by the job,like divorcees, wills, etc. But only if they are very simple ones. Kind of like us. A flat fee for tuning, but more if there are complications. Wim -----Original Message----- From: Dean May <deanmay at pianorebuilders.com> To: pianotech <pianotech at ptg.org> Sent: Wed, Jul 21, 2010 3:14 pm Subject: Re: [pianotech] Charging by job, or by hour? Not an issue of using more of the brain in court, it is an issue of flexible time. Court schedules are dictated without much flexibility. And I know some lawyers charge by the job, not by the hour. Dean Dean W May (812) 235-5272 PianoRebuilders.com (888) DEAN-MAY Terre Haute IN 47802 From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of tnrwim at aol.com Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 2:48 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Charging by job, or by hour? Several of my clients are lawyers. We talk. Most charge by the job, a few by the hour. In the end, it probably all works out about the same. Regards Ron. I respectfully disagree. Most lawyers charge by the hours. They are called "billable hours". Lawyers will also charge more per hour when they represent you in court than they do when they talk to you in their office. My question has always been, "do you use more of your brain during court?" The hours they charge in a day presumably add up to an 8 or 10 hour day. Back in St. Louis, a public defender was fired because according to his log, he billed the city 23 hours in one day. Not just once, but on a number of occasions. Wim -----Original Message----- From: RONALD SHIFLET <rlshiflet at msn.com> To: Pianotech <pianotech at ptg.org> Sent: Wed, Jul 21, 2010 6:26 am Subject: [pianotech] Charging by job, or by hour? There are many ways to figure the price of a piano job. Generally, I will base it upon my tuning price. I know how many tunings I can do in a normal day, and my daily rate runs about the same. You can easily break it down into half days, etc. I used to charge by the hour, but not very often anymore. For me, I have found that when quoting by the hour, you also have to estimate how many hours it will take so the customer will have an idea what it will cost (ie, have the money). Often, the customer doesn't really listen to you anyway, they just remember what you said it will cost so even though you quoted an hourly rate, they heard you quote the job....interesting isn't it? If you go over on time, it costs more and they're upset. If you go under, you probably lost money in unscheduled work you could have done. Anymore, I just quote the job. If I go over, I may make a little less on an hourly basis, but this is rare. If I go under, I have a little extra time. Either way, I'm making money. Examples: *If you charge $100 for a tuning and can tune 4 pianos in a normal day, then you will have income of $400, provided that you tune 4 pianos. In an all-day repair job of about 8 hours, you would charge $400 plus parts. *You are tuning a vertical piano and notice the keyboard is seriously out of regulation. You explain this to the owner and demonstrate. You might even adjust one for an example. She then tells you why she hates her piano but loves the one at church. You know it will take the better part of a day to regulate the action and complete the tuning. You charge $400 for both jobs inclusive. *A set of bridle straps can be installed in about the same amount of time as a tuning. If you charge $75 for a tuning, you would charge $75 labor plus the cost of the bridle straps. A good technician would also check the tuning and if it was out of tune, they would try to sell the package of a tuning plus straps...probably around $160-$175 for both. *Several of my clients are lawyers. We talk. Most charge by the job, a few by the hour. In the end, it probably all works out about the same. Regards Ron. The New Busy is not the old busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox. Get started. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100721/e6f90c2a/attachment.htm>
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